Adjustable basketball goal

ABSTRACT

An adjustable basketball goal pivotally secured to a fixed support post with pairs of interengaged pivoted lever arms. A height adjustment mechanism is secured to the support post with an activation arm extending therefrom pivotally interconnected to one pair of said support arms. A gear rack portion of the activation arm is positioned for selective registration within a ratchet type adjustment mechanism having a gear rack engagement portion activation lever and a ratchet engagement pall providing for incremental self-elevation and lowering of the basketball goal in relation to the support post.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/021,193, filed on May 7, 2020.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field

This invention relates to sport goals, specifically basketball goals that are height adjustable to accommodate different player venues.

2. Description of Prior Art

Prior art adjustable basketball goals have been developed that use different goal post support adjustment systems, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,388,821, 6,273,834, 7,892,118, 8,708,844 and U.S. Patent Publication 2004/0018900A1.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,821 discloses a force lifting adjustment basketball goal having a counterweight with a basketball goal on a support post.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,834 claims a quick release self-adjusting latch for an adjustable basketball goal with a dual arm pivot support and adjustment mechanism having locking key selectively engaged within a plurality of opposing aligned spaced slots.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,892,118 describes a basketball goal having an adjustable hoop and backboard with an integrated adjustment rack having a remote release activation positioned on the support post.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,708,844 illustrates a basketball system with a pivoted multi-paired arm adjustable backboard and hoop configuration for vertical adjustment.

Finally, U.S. Publication 2007/0042843A1 discloses a basketball system having a basketball goal and support structure which is adjustable vertically by engagement of a pair of parallel spaced pivoted support arms to support post and a spring-loaded lever action adjustment for height system, all on a support structure which is movably positioned about the venue.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the adjustable basketball goal in solid lines and in broken lines indicating height adjustability.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view thereof.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the ratchet height adjustment assembly with portions broken away.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view thereof illustrating the range of adjustment achieved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A height adjustable basketball goal pivotally secured to a support post having an adjustable rack and engagement pinion lever assembly secured to the ends of a pair of goal level support arms and pivotally secured and extending beyond the support post allowing for incremental vertical adjustment of the basketball goal on the support post.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, an adjustable basketball goal 10 of the invention can be seen having a hollow support post member 11. Pairs of vertically spaced upper and lower basketball backboard support arms 12 and 13 respectively extend in a parallelogram relationship. The backboard support arm pairs 12 and 13 are pivotally connected to a backboard 14 which includes a basketball rim and net assembly 15 as will be well understood by those skilled in the art. The backboard support arm pair 12 is pivotally secured on their respective proximal ends to apertured mounting brackets extending from the respective side surfaces 11A and 11B of the support post 11 and its upper end designated as 16.

Correspondingly, the backboard support arm pairs 13 are pivotally secured to and extend beyond the support post 11 side surfaces 11A and 11B in vertical spaced relation to the hereinbefore described support arm pairs 12 pivot point at 17.

It will thus be seen that a dual pivot point orientation of the parallelogram spaced upper and lower basketball backboard support arm pairs 12 and 13 will provide vertical adjustment movement to the pivotally attached backboard 14 while maintaining the backboard 14 in parallel vertical relationship to the support post 11 and keeping the basketball rim and net assembly 15 on a horizontal plane regardless of its vertical position.

A backboard activation connection bar 18 is pivotally connected to and between the respective apertured ends 13B of the backboard support arm pairs 13. The backboard activation bar 18 extends therefrom in parallel aligned spaced relation along the support post 11 and has an engagement gear rack surface portion 18A thereon, best seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 of the drawings for registration with a ratchet type actuating adjustment assembly 19. The actuator adjustment assembly 19 is mounted between a pair of apertured support brackets 20 and 21 extending in fixed relation from the support post 11 back surface 11C. The actuator adjustment assembly 19 has an open-ended housing 22 with a pivoted lever fitting 23 within for receiving a user engagement rod 24 extending therefrom shown in broken lines in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings.

The pivot lever fitting 23 has pinion gear teeth 23A for selective sequential engagement with the hereinbefore described gear rack surface portion 18A of the backboard activation bar 18 thereby allowing for a user, not shown, engagement rod 24 activation height adjustment indicated by broken lines and arrows in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The ratchet type actuator adjustment assembly 19 has a locking pawl 25 pivotally positioned in an adjacent longitudinal aligned relation to the lever activation pinion rack engagement lever fitting 23 as will be well understood by those skilled in the art.

It will be seen that the orientation of the gear rack surface portion 18A's teeth 18B is such that by direct user engagement of the lever fitting 23, the pinion gear teeth 23A will engage and selectively raise or lower the backboard activation bar 18 and thereby the pivotally attached basketball backboard 14 as hereinbefore described.

Retained advancement of the backboard activation bar 18 is maintained by the locking pawl 25 again as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

A control lever 26 is provided to change the ratchet assembly engagement for raising the basketball backboard 14 or lowering it as described above and known within the release ratchet art.

It will thus be seen that a new and novel adjustable basketball goal has been illustrated and described and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, therefore I claim: 

1. An adjustable basketball goal for adjustment of height of a basketball goal above a playing surface comprises in combination, a rigid support, a basketball goal assembly, an upper support arm pair pivotally connected to the basketball goal and said rigid support, a lower support arm pair pivotally connecting to the basketball goal and the rigid support, said upper and lower arm pairs in spaced parallel paralligranic relation to one another where selective movement of said lower support arm pairs that deforms said upper arm pairs moving the basketball goal assembly.
 2. The adjustable basketball goal set forth in claim 1 wherein said rigid support comprises, a hollow support post.
 3. The adjustable basketball goal set forth in claim 1 wherein said basketball goal assembly comprises, a backboard, a basketball rim and net assembly on said backboard.
 4. The adjustable basketball goal set forth in claim 1 wherein said lower support arm pair has parallel arm extensions from a pivot point on said rigid support, an indexing locking mechanism pivotally engaging the free ends of said parallel extensions, movement of said indexing locking mechanisms selectively pivots said lower and upper support arm pairs in a parallelogram operation.
 5. The adjustable basketball goal set forth in claim 4 wherein said indexing locking mechanism comprises, a backboard activation bar with a gear rack extending from said parallel arm extensions, a ratchet actuation adjustment assembly engaging said activation bar for selective indexing movement thereto.
 6. The adjustable basketball goal set forth in claim 4 wherein said indexing locking mechanism further comprises, a pivot lifting lever and a locking pawl for selective engagement with the gear rack on said activation bar for selective advancement, locking and release during height adjustment of the backboard activation bar and the basketball goal assembly.
 7. The adjustable basketball goal set forth in claim 6 wherein said indexing locking mechanism further comprises, an open-ended housing having a pivoted activation lever fitting and a locking pawl pivot fitting for registration of the pivot lift lever and locking pawl respectively and a control lever for directional engagement of the activation bar.
 8. The adjustable basketball goal set forth in claim 7 wherein said open ended housing is secured to said rigid support in spaced parallel relation thereto and in vertical spaced relation to said lower support arm pair. 